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Have I Got A Car For You
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Written by Charles N. Oliphant   
Tuesday, 17 February 2009
Last month Patti Tiver was on the hunt for a 1971 Roadrunner. The classifieds were full of used Plymouths, but not the right model. "I knew what I wanted," says the 31-year-old receptionist and car collector from Medford, N.J. But when she logged onto eBay she saw the car of her dreams, in hot orange, no less. There was just one problem: it was parked 450 miles away in Lakewood, Ohio. Still hoping for a bargain, she followed the auction for a week and cast the winning bid of $10,800. For an extra $466, a carrier service towed the car to her door. "I was nervous," says Tiver, but after examining the car she was thrilled with her purchase.

Internet surfers have long turned to search engines to look for used cars. But only in the past few years has the online buyer's market hit critical mass. Some 20 percent of eBay clients now shop for autos and parts--the auction site unloaded its millionth car earlier this year. In fact, eBaymotors.com has become a hub for secondhand vehicles--not just rare collector's models, but regular Buicks, BMWs and Bentleys, sometimes sold by wholesalers at slashed prices. Another sign of growth: 2004 marks the first time that more buyers have found a late-model used car on Internet classifieds than in newspaper classifieds, according to the research firm J.D. Power and Associates. Sites like Autobytel.com and Carsdirect.com allow shoppers to run regional searches and still benefit from an old-fashioned test drive. "Now the buyer has the added leverage that comes from knowing there are alternatives," says Chip Perry, CEO of Auto trader.com, which lists 2.5 million cars.

Bob Murphy, a carpenter from Grass Valley, Calif., took the train to Oakland to scope out a 2001 Jeep Cherokee he saw on eBay. "It was the best deal," says Murphy, 55, who estimates he saved at least $4,000. He'd bookmarked other used cars in the area, so that he could move on if the first vehicle wasn't up to speed. "You have to be quite on top of your game to buy something that expensive," he says.

Other sites have popped up to help consumers do just that. Kelleybluebook.com lists prices on used cars by year, make and model. Experts say it's a reliable source to make sure the used car you're eyeing is a good value. Car fax.com and autocheck.com offer vehicle-history reports for a small fee--so you can make sure there haven't been any wrecks. Finally, sites like capitaloneauto finance.com and householdauto finance.com include a calculator to help you figure how much you can borrow--and spend. Experts say you might want to shop around banks, credit unions and finance sites to get preapproval for a loan before entering the heat of an online auction. It'll also help you set a budget.

The other tip: stay proactive. Ask sellers questions about the condition of the car ("What's the interior like?" or "Have any of the parts been replaced?") before you make a bid or offer. Try to get the seller on the phone. And if you can't see your car before buying it, find a mechanic who will. Some perform a prepurchase inspection starting at $50, even if there's a long-distance arrangement. (Your best bet is to call a national auto-body chain near the seller.) Don't send money until you've seen a faxed copy of the deed. If you play your cards right, "you can get an unbelievably cheap deal," says Myles Goodwin, a used-car specialist in Fort Worth, Texas. But you have to be willing to make sacrifices, especially if you buy sight unseen. A few years ago Tiver bought a Mustang convertible on eBay for $10,500. She expected a pale yellow car. Instead, Tiver says, what arrived looked more like a banana. A minor slip, she concluded.
Last Updated ( Tuesday, 17 February 2009 )